and be referred to the Stone-beach Committee, with power to act." - The Rev. W. W. Hume, in the name of the committee, said they had taken the matter in hand with the feeling that they would have the co-operation of the Council, and that the two parties would be able to work together.
The Subscriptions already raised amounted to between £200 and £300, and the Committee had accepted the offer of a lifeboat from the National Lifeboat Institution. They resolved to obtain rocket or mortars for throwing lines, and to place buoys, belts &c. somewhere in the West Ward.
A Public Appeal - In a letter to the Editor of the Hastings News, dated October 29th, 1857, Mr. Hume wrote-"Sir, - you will promote a good cause if you will print in your next number, the list of subscribers to the Hastings and St Leonards Branch of the Royal Humane Society. The wreck which occurred on our coast during the late gale and the loss of five human beings for the want of the necessary appliances for rescuing men from stranded vessels woke us up from the sleep of carelessness, and induced a vigorous effort to be better prepared for the future. In the case of fire, we are wise enough to be prepared beforehand, and to have our engines and fire-engines ready the moment the cry of fire is heard. Perhaps if we occupied our business in deep waters, we should be quite as anxious to have a lifeboat, rockets, &c. stationed on every part of the coast where it was possible that a vessel might be stranded and lost....Let us learn wisdom from the past and be prepared for the future. The amount collected is still below the mark of our requirements, and it is earnestly hoped that those who have the means will help our endeavours to a successful termination. W. W. Hume.
The Royal Humane Society. The month of November found established a branch of the Royal Humane Society, with the Rev. W. W. Hume as treasurer, R. Cooper Gardiner, Esq., as secretary, and Mr. T. S. Hide as assistant secretary.
The Life-boat Maintenance. - The Corporation having offered to defray the expense of the lifeboat's coxswains salary and the payment of the crew for quarterly exercise, Capt. Ward, R. V. (the Inspector of Lifeboats) in a conference said that such an arrangement would be contrary to the system pursued by the National Lifeboat Institution. He therefore urged that the control of the lifeboat should be jointly under the Corporation and other persons, to be managed quite distinct from any other society and be maintained by voluntary contributions. This was agreed to.
Sale of Stock
The year 1857 was for a long time remembered not only in St. Leonards and Hastings, but also in other parts of the county as that in which took place the largest sale of live stock that had been known during a century. It was on the 29th of September that was effected the sale of Sussex stock at Pebsham farm, Bulverhithe. Mr. Barton and his family, from -
